More Time for Families: Settlement Services International Leans on AI Strengthen Child and Family Support

For many not-for-profits, AI presents an opportunity to improve outcomes for staff and the community, but significant considerations around ethics and safe implementation can create valid hesitations.

At Settlement Services International (SSI), the answer to safe implementation of AI started with a clear operational problem, strong governance foundations, and a commitment to human-centred implementation.

SSI’s AI-enabled service transformation demonstrates how responsible AI can improve workforce productivity, reduce administrative burden, strengthen compliance, and create more time for frontline support, without replacing human judgement or compromising trust.

The challenge: Administrative workload reducing frontline impact

SSI operates nationally across 53 projects delivering services in employment, humanitarian settlement, disability support, family preservation, social enterprise, and workforce training.

Within SSI’s Multicultural Child & Family Program (MCFP), caseworkers operate in a highly regulated environment that supports culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Before AI implementation, staff were spending significant time documenting interactions with foster carers and clients. Face-to-face meetings and phone calls required extensive note-taking, structured record-keeping, and compliance documentation.

This created several operational challenges:

• Caseworkers were losing 1–2 hours per day to documentation, reducing time available for direct support and relationship building.
• Repetitive administrative tasks increased fatigue and burnout risk in an already stretched workforce.
• Notes were often completed 12–48 hours after interactions, increasing the likelihood of inconsistencies and rework.

Pre-AI data showed the top 25 caseworkers generated approximately 500 manual notes per month, with around 30% requiring rework due to inconsistencies.

Building the right foundations before implementing AI

SSI’s approach highlights an important lesson for organisations beginning their AI journey: successful AI adoption requires governance, stakeholder engagement, and strong digital foundations.

Since 2021, SSI invested in a secure and resilient cloud digital foundation, where today, 93% staff are satisfied with technology support in 2025, up from 62% in 2023. This maturity enabled SSI to expand into responsible AI initiatives across service management, workplace productivity, marketing, HR, and client services.

Rather than starting with broad transformation, SSI focused on a practical, high-impact use case within frontline service delivery.

Starting with a focused, high-impact use case

SSI implemented an AI enabled telephony and transcription solution integrated directly into its Client Management System (CMS). The solution was designed to support existing work practices, not replace them.

Key features included:

• Secure recording and transcription of meetings and phone calls with explicit client consent
• Real-time multilingual transcription and draft case note generation
• Automatic integration into the CMS
• Secondary AI structuring of notes to meet compliance requirements
• Human review, editing, and approval of every note by caseworkers

Importantly, staff were not required to manage or understand the underlying AI technologies. The system was embedded into standard business processes.

SSI also implemented:

• AI risk assessments
• Defined governance structures
• Privacy by design principles
• Bias mitigation approaches
• Transparency measures
• Human oversight throughout the workflow

The initiative began as a Proof of Concept with 25 users before transitioning into production.

The impact: More time for people, less time on administration

The initiative delivered measurable operational and workforce outcomes.

In 2025:

• The top 25 caseworkers generated 10,988 client notes – a 78% increase compared to the previous year.
• 39.3% of all notes were AI generated.
• For phone calls, 62% of notes were AI generated.
• 4,320 AI generated notes delivered more than 100 hours saved per month.

Most importantly, that time was redirected into frontline support and client engagement. Caseworkers reduced note drafting time from 20–30 minutes per interaction to under five minutes for review and approval.

Notes were also finalised on the same day rather than 12–48 hours later, enabling faster follow-ups and more proactive support, and audit compliance improved from 85% to 98%.

SSI also reported:

• 93% caseworker satisfaction with note quality and reduced administrative burden
• Early data showing 15% higher client goal attainment within the Proof-of-Concept program
• Increased organisational confidence in IT as a strategic business partner

Human-centred AI in practice

A key lesson from SSI’s approach is that responsible AI implementation is not about removing people from services – it was focused on enabling staff to spend more time where human interaction matters most.

As one intake caseworker shared:

“This AI tool helps me in so many ways, but the most important one is documenting my conversations with my clients. It documents the conversations accurately and evidently and this is a job that is done for me. This gives me more time to focus more on the clients instead of doing more administrative work.”

A Family Preservation Specialist described how the system improved both service delivery and efficiency during home visits:

“Notetaker saved me at least a couple of hours of admin as well as speeding up my onsite meeting. All I had to do was check the note and tidy up some of the language and formatting.”

What other not-for-profits can learn from SSI’s approach

SSI’s experience provides practical guidance for organisations exploring AI implementation.

Key lessons highlighted through the project include:

1. Start with a clear operational problem

SSI focused on a specific challenge creating measurable workforce and compliance pressure.

2. Invest in governance early

The initiative embedded governance structures, ethical principles, risk assessments, transparency, and human oversight from inception.

3. Begin with accessible use cases

Rather than attempting organisation-wide transformation immediately, SSI started with a focused Proof of Concept in an area with clear operational benefit.

4. Building digital foundations and staff capabilities before implementing AI

SSI introduced the AI initiative after advancing through a process of digital maturity across various departments, strengthening both tech foundation and staff capabilities.

5. Keep humans accountable

AI generated draft notes, but staff retained responsibility for review, editing, and approval.

6. Use AI to enhance human work, not replace it

SSI deliberately designed AI to amplify human empathy and frontline capacity rather than automate away relationships.

7. Measure impact continuously

SSI tracked operational efficiency, staff experience, compliance outcomes, and client impact throughout implementation.

Looking ahead

SSI plans to continue expanding its AI strategy through structured project planning, evolving governance, and ongoing ROI tracking.

The organisation is targeting 100% coverage within the Multicultural Child & Family Program by the end of 2026, with projected annual savings of more than $300,000 to be reinvested into frontline services.

SSI also plans to support broader sector adoption of AI supported casework through collaboration with its 18 member organisations and expansion into additional programs including Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) and the Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP).

The initiative demonstrates how responsible, human-centred AI can improve productivity, strengthen compliance, reduce administrative burden, and create more time for meaningful human support across the not-for-profit sector.